Author: Larry Littlefield

Four years ago I was so outraged by the way the state legislature in Albany was selling out our collective future, to hand out money to privileged interests today, that I ran against them as a minor party candidate. Had I known what was going on in business, and in many people’s own lives, I wouldn’t have bothered, because what has been going on in Albany is what has been going on in our culture. We have had a long national orgy, a white collar riot, and the participans are going to make the non-participants and their children pay for the fallout.

There are a lot of Andrew Jackson quotes rolling around the internet now, mostly because of his opposition to privatized profits and socialized losses in the financial sector, and the government-backed organizations that facilitate this. Intrigued, I came upon a veto message from 1832 that, at its end, provides some general principles beyond the particular issues of his day, one that speaks to the past decade of federal and state legislation in Albany and Washington. The man on the twenty dollar bill sensed the country was going wrong because its institutions were being corrupted by special interests, and were threatened as a result. The veto message was posted by a well known Furman University professor of history, and taken from Messages and Papers of the Presidents, also posted here. In light of recent events, and the diminishment of our collective future by public and private actions over the past decade, it is well worth reading.

Do either of these two candidates realize what is going down? Do they have any idea what the financial situation of the country will be in when they take office? Or do they just not want to talk about it?

Perhaps by the time the debates roll around, it will be obvious enough that even the moderators will get it. Whoever wins had better work fast, because they’re only going to be there for one term. If we’re lucky, very lucky, things will be no worse than they were under Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush. Because as bad as the 1970s were, the U.S. was a net creditor at the time. Not a

The Service Nation folks provided me with a list of people I could request to interview as a blogger. I guess Governor Paterson was not available, because he was busy, because he never heard of me, or because he has heard of me. No matter. I spoke with one of my own kind instead, Dr. Robert Grimm, the Director of Research and Public Policy for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the organization that produces this report.  I asked three questions. Is there a problem of declining civic engagement in the United States? Why is the level of voluntary service so low in the New York Metro area? And did some generations let American down in this (and other regards), according to the statistics?

The strong emphasis by both candidates for President on military service, discussed in the previous post, could be considered a surprise given the issues that have convulsed the country in the past few years. There was, however, an unsurprising difference of emphasis in voluntary service. Senator Obama showed greater interest in federal programs to recruit and compensate social volunteers, and spoke to the need to attract people to federal civilian employment because federal agencies have been “hollowed out” in recent decades. He wants to “make government cool again.” While endorsing the expansion of organizations such as Americorp and Peace Corp, Senator McCain said “I also wanna emphasize there– it doesn’t always have to be run by the government. That’s why we also ought to understand that faith-based organizations, other volunteer organizations that are completely separate from the government, have nothing to do with the government, are amongst the most successful. So let’s not get entrapped by the idea that the government has to run these voluntary organizations and volunteer kinds of programs.”

I’m back at the Service Nation summit, with a newfound understanding of journalists. If I were one, I would have had to have tossed off a story on what the candidates for President said yesterday, for the late night news or morning newspaper, before I had a chance to think about it. Perhaps that explains a lot. I’ve heard repeated calls to service at intervals throughout my adult and near adult life, and definitely see something different here. The Service Nation summit includes both social service organizations and foundations, and the military, together as examples of service. I’m not sure that would have been the case 30, 20 or even 10 years ago. And during their interviews last night, both candidates spoke to the relationship between the military and the broader country, and how it needed to change. Not the military, the respect and appreciation for the military in some parts of the country. Such as ours.

My initial reaction is that for one night, the candidates for President, Senator McCain and Senator Obama, seemed willing to say what I wanted to hear, but I’m not sure what that was. Both agreed that there are serious problems in the country, and that a spirit of service to others needs to be “restored.” Both see the military as an important component of service, and want it to be expanded and better paid. Both believe a lack of trust in government and politics has discouraged concerned citizenship. Senator McCain said that restoring trust is the key to encouraging community service, Senator Obama said that there is a spirit of idealism in the country that just needs to be given an opportunity by the government. People know things have to change. People are ready for change. Unions are ready. Politicians are ready. Young people are ready. Old people are ready. There was a spirit on 9/11. It should have been taken advantage of. It’s still there.

The head of Columbia University said that thousands of students were gathered outside the event to show their support for a day of service, and thousands volunteer each year. The school’s core curriculum, he said, is based in part on the idea of citizenship in a democratic society. He pointed out that the School of Engineering has a mandatory service requirement, and that many prospective engineers work to improve the technology available in the public schools. Mandatory volunteering?

The Governor cited former New York State Governors and Presidents FDR and TR on the value of service and compassion. He praised the personal example of service both candidates have provided in their lives, and said that it shows service is bipartisan. He talked about the spirit of service in New York.  And he said the Office of Community Service in New York State will become a cabient level position.

We heard from a leader of the American Association of Retired Persons, AARP. He said his organization is dedicated to service on its 50th anniversary. It was founded based on the principles of collective service, collective voice, and collective purchasing power, and its motto is “to serve not to be served.” AARP, he said, has 40 million members. More than 50% of senior citizens volunteer, and “they are prepared to do.” Those over 50, he said, accounted for more than half of those who voted in the recent election. Their kids and grandkids need them more than ever, because most people now believe that these generations will be worse off than those who came before, and we “can’t let that happen.”